Comments on: How to restore the Windows XP bootloader – After uninstalling Ubuntu

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:58:55 +0000

You do need to be slightly careful that your Win XP partition is partition 1 … just make sure you specify the correct partition number within Boot.ini (e.g. my XP partition is no 3 even though I dont dual boot – a consequence of manufacturer ‘restore’ utility).

By: Anurag

Anurag — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:58:24 +0000

Yaaay!!! I fixed it! But not using the method given here. There’s a way to do it from the Linux terminal. I tried it and it works well!

By: TK

TK — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:11:41 +0000

Thanks a ton…

By: Naveen

Naveen — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:50:42 +0000

Thanks for the trick Jones.

By: Naveen

Naveen — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:49:57 +0000

You have to uncheck other booting options. It should only boot to CD. Also, uncheck booting from other devices.

By: trinath

trinath — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:34:20 +0000

hai navin i hope you will reply to my problem.i have installed ubuntu 9.04 totally in my system,i was using that for the pas ttwo months.its was good regarding security .but i want to move back to my old xp os.so can u tell me how to reinstall my old xp.
itried like this i inserted my xp cd and restated and pressd f8 then blue screen giving boot options came.i clicked cdw/dvd then enter.next thing it moved again to ubuntu only.please help me to get my xp back..thanks in advance

By: Oliver Jones

Oliver Jones — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:15:22 +0000

If you have booted into recovery mode AND tried this trick, and you are still getting the Ubuntu boot loader, open a command shell (Run) on Windows XP, and try this:

diskpart
select disk 0
select partition 1
active
exit

This will set the Windows partition as the active one, so it will boot first.

By: Anurag Kesari

Anurag Kesari — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:28:04 +0000

here’s my story:
i installed ubuntu 9.04 this morning (with win XP, dual-boot). however, accidentally, i installed it on an external USB hard drive that happened to be connected to my laptop at that time. because of that, the ubuntu OS as well as the bootloader got installed on that external drive and now my laptop does not even let me run Win XP without that ext. drive. (Sort of like a lock and key, wherein i don’t get to use my machine unless the drive is connected to it!). I can, however, disconnect the drive once i load up one of the OSs. I’m in a total mess right now. I’m trying to undo all the damage and run linux side-by-side Win XP WITHOUT that cursed drive!
thanks for your tip. trying it now. if it works, i’ll take all you guys on the forum out for lunch! (hehehe)

By: Greg

Greg — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:40:37 +0000

Thanks a million! This tip worked like a charm.

By: Naveen

Naveen — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:46:06 +0000

Thanks for the tip!

By: ChandraSekar

ChandraSekar — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:45:44 +0000

Hello Admin. You have installed ussing Wubi. If the user installed not using Wubi, the xp boot loader will be replaced by GRUB ubuntu loader. So ur method will not work. FIXMBR is the only solution. Update your post so that users ll know this

By: Naveen

Naveen — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:58:40 +0000

It does not work on my system. Are you missing something?

By: Harshal Jain

Harshal Jain — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:34:48 +0000

Hey, No need to go into My Computer properties and all that stuff to open boot.ini file. Simply open command prompt and go to C:\. In that, type boot.ini there it'll automatically open boot.ini

By: Srinivasan

Srinivasan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:16:47 +0000

hello navin, can u say me how to bring back my ubundu startup screen after reformating windows? linux exists but isnot accessible

By: j doe

j doe — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:59:28 +0000

trying it now, thanks for the help.